Lighting fixture clamp



sept, 16, 1952 HV1/VOTE 2,610,816

LIGHTING FIXTURE CLAM l Find' March 1o, 195o INVEN TOR.

Patented Sept. 16, 19532 LIGHTING FIXTURE'CL-Arne`y l l Harold W. Vote,'Los Angeles, Calif., assignor'to K Eagle Manufacturing Company,

Calif., a partnership Los Angeles, n

Application March 10, 1950, Serial No. 148,864

This invention relates generally to clamps, and more particularly to clamps for electric lighting fixtures.

The clamp of the present invention is especially applicable to a type of recessed lighting fixture having a generally cylindricalor rounded case which is received (for ceiling installations) between a pair of ceiling joists, with its end portion protruding through the ceiling wall in a more or less flush position. y y A An object Yof the inventionfis to provide a simple, improved bracket for installing such a lighting fixture, one which is readily aflixedto the adjacent-joists which is readily bent to suit various installation situations, `and which, moreover, is itself readily adjustable'to accommodate lighting xtures of different sizes.

The invention will bebest understood' from the following detailed description of a present illustrative embodiment thereof, reference for this purpose being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a bracket in accordance with the invention, shown installed 2 Claims. (Cl. 248-27) in a ceiling structure illustratedv in vertical section;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the bracket'of the invention;

Figure 3 is a perspective view thereof, with a fastening means removed; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing portions of the bracket in an initial position prior to assembly. In Figure 1 of the drawings, numeral l0 designates generally a ceiling structure of any conventional nature, and I I and I2 are two adjacent ceiling joists. A lighting iixture I3, having a generally cylindrical case |3a, and shown to contain reflector lamp I4, is positioned between joists II and I2 by means of bracket I5. The end of the case |3a protrudes through a suitable aperture in ceiling I0, and a nish plate I6 on the end of the'case mounts flush against the ceiling.

The bracket I5 consists of two inter-engaging strap members and 2| ,each consisting of a strap of bendable metal, of any appropriate nature, e. g., wrought iron, the material employed having some degree of flexibility and resilience. The strap member 20 has a half ,round or arcuate portion 22, furnished at one end with an ear 23 bent outwardly at right angles and perforated as indicated at 24. Extending at right angles from the other end of portion 22 is a portion 25a, and beyond the slot,

25 which is slotted at twisted through 90,

the half round or arcuate f 2 as at 26, then bent upwardly at 21, kand the upwardly bent portion 21 being bent at right angles to provide a horizontally extending leg portion 28.

The other member 2| of the bracket consists of a half round or arcuate portion 30, from one end of which extends, in a tangential direction, a notched projection 3| adapted to be received in slot 25a, as described in more particular yhereinafter. The other end of half round portion 30 is bent outwardly at right angles to form astrap portion 32 which is adapted to oppose the ear 23 of the bracket member 20, and is perforated, as at 32a, in line with perforations 24. This strap portion`32, beyond ear 23, vhas a twist at 34, an upwardly bent portion 35 beyond said twist, and horizontal leg member 36 bent at right angles to portion 36. f

The portion 25 of strap 2|)v is furnished, as

stated, with a slot 25a, and this slot is horizontally n elongated and of a size to receive freely the 'notched end portion 3| of bracket member 2| when said portion 3| is turned parallel tor the y slotI as indicated in Figure 4. `This end portion 3| of member 2| is furnished withpairs of opposed notches 4|v spaced longitudinally therealong, and the dimension between the bottoms of the notches 4I of each pair is made slightlyv less than the vertical height of the slot 25a, so that once the member 3| has been inserted through the slot 25a, and positioned so that there is a selected pair of the notches 4I alined with the strap portion 25, the strap portion 3| can be turned through a right angle to bring thek parts into the locked position of Figure 3. `At such time, the portion 32 of the member 2| alineswith the ear 23, and a suitable fastening means, such as screw 44, and nut 45, can be inserted through the aperture y24 in ear 23v and the aperture 32a in strapportion 32, a nut 45 being used on the screw to secure the members in assembly.

The two legportions 28 and 35 of the device are furnishedrwith longitudinally spaced perforations 50, permitting nailing .to ceiling joists of various spacings', as will be understood by reference to Figure l.r f

The bracket is assembled with the casing i3d by fitting the two arcuate portions 22 and 30 around the same, the notched endmember 3| of the memberr 2|,being projected through the slot 25a in member 20 suiiiciently far as toengage the proper pair of its notches 4I with the strap portion 25 to assure that the two, opposed portions 23 and 32 of the members 20 and 2| will either come just to engagement, or be slightly spaced from one another, when the arcuate mem- 3 bers 2| and 22 have been wrapped tightly about casing I3a. Insertion of the screw 44 and tightening up of nut 45 then clamps the two parts of the device tightly about the casing 13a. The pairs of notches 4I are suciently close spaced that a proper pair of said notches can always be selected to assure that the arcuate strap portions will be tightly wrapped about the casing I3a when the portions 23 and 32 have been drawn tightly together by the screw 44 and nut 45.

The bracket being thus assembled about the casing of the lighting xture, it is readily secured to the frame members of the ceiling as-l sembly by nailing through legs 28 and 36 to the ceiling joists, Ias indicated at'5 I The leg portions 28 and 36 of the bracket may either be initially bent outwardly into their horizontal positions, or, optionally, they may be supplied to the installer in an unbent condition, i. e., as vertical extensions of the vertical strap portions 21 and 35, it then being left to the installer to bend the legs outwardly at any selected points along the length thereof found most convenient or suitable to the condition or position of the framing members to which they are to be nailed. Ordinarily, however, the device will be fashioned in the factory as illustrated in the drawings, and any adjustment necessary to accommodatev the lighting xture to the ceiling level is made by adjusting the point at which the bracket clamps the casing of the nxture.

It will be seenthat the mounting bracket of the invention affords a simple and inexpensive mounting device for an electric fixture of the general type indicated, one which is adapted to meet various conditions as ythey'are encountered in the field, and one which is readily adjustable to a substantial range of xture sizes.

A preferred embodiment of thejinvention has now been described in detail, but it will be understood that the drawings and description are for illustrative purposes only, and that Various changes in design, structure and-'arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope o1' the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a mounting bracket for a lighting xture or the like, the combination of: two 4strap members each formed with a substantially halfround arcuate portion, said arcuate portions together being adapted to embrace a rounded lighting fixture or the like,'said strap members being formed at corresponding ends of said arcuate portions with opposed portions extending outwardly at substantially right angles from said arcuate portions, an extension leg Joining one of said opposed portions adapted to be fastened to a support, securing means for drawing said opposed strap portions toward one another, one oi.' said strap membersbeing formed at the op posite end of its arcuate portion with an outwardly bent slotted portion extending at substantially right angles to said arcuate portion, an extension leg joining said outwardly bent slotted portion Vand adapted to be fastened to a support, the other of said strap members being formed at the opposite end of its said arcuate portion with a substantially tangentially extending locking portion, the slot in' said slotted strap portion being elongated in a direction lon'- gitudinally of the strap to a dimension greater than the width of said tangentially extending locking portion and having a width dimension substantially greater than the thickness of said locking portion but less than the width thereof, so as to receive said locking portion only when the locking portion is turned' substantially into a plane parallel to the direction of elongation of said strap, said locking portion being edgenotched to a depth at least equal to its width less the width of the elongated slot, so as to permit turning said locking portion in said slot into a plane substantiallyat right angles to the direction of elongation of said slot, with locking shoulder means formed by said edge-notehing in engagement with-said slotted strap portion.

2. In a mounting bracket for a lighting nxture or'the like, the combination of z two strap members each formed with a substantially halfround arcuateportion,saidarcuate portions together being adapted to embrace 'a rounded lighting fixture or the like, said strap members being formed at corresponding ends Voi! said arcuate. portions: with opposedv portions extending outwardly at substantially right angles fromV saidY arcuate portions, anextension leg' joining.

one of said opposedY portions adapted to be fastened to a support, securing means for drawing said opposed strap portions toward one another, one of said strap membersV being formedat the opposite end of itsarcuate portion with an outwardly bent slotted portion' extending at substantially right angles to saidarcuate portion. an extension leg,joining said outwardly bent slotted portion and adapted-to be fastened to a support, the other of saidY strap members being formed at the oppositer end-,of its said arcuate portion with a substantially tangentially extending locking portion, Y,the slot in said-slotted strap portion being elongated in a direction longitudinally of the strap to a dimension greater thanY the width of said tangentially extending locking portion and having a'width dimension substantially greater than the thickness of said locking portion but less than the width thereof, so as to receive said locking portion only when the locking portion is turned substantially into a. plane parallel to the direction of elongation of said strap, said tangentially'extending locking portion having a p'air o'f' opposed edge notches formed in. opposite edges thereof, `said notches having width dimensions `greater than the thickness of the slotted strap portion, and beingsunk to depths such that the bottoms of' the notches are separated by a distancel'ess than 'the width of the elongate'dslot.

Y HAROLD W. VOTE.

l 'REFERENCES CITEDYV The .following references are` of Vrecord in the le of this patent; 1 V- UNITED STATES'PATEN'IS Number Na'rne v Date 973,319' Thunen et a1. oct. v18, 1910 1,069,160 Maltz'A Aug. 5, 1913 1,667,025 Bowers i Apr. 24, 192s 1,791,019 Wilson Feb. 3, 1931 1,880,955 Falstl'omV Oct. 4, 1932 

